New BCBS Alpha Numeric Prefixes

All of the BCBS plans have been posting announcements about the new alpha/numeric prefixes that they’re going to be rolling out next year. Below is the announcement that Anthem put in a recent newsletter:

New member ID prefixes coming in 2018 The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) assigns member ID prefixes for all Blue Cross and Blue Shield branded Plans – Anthem Plans as well as non-Anthem Plans. There are a limited number of unused three-character, alpha only prefixes remaining, and they are expected to be exhausted in the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2018. When that happens, the BCBSA will begin assigning prefixes that contain a combination of letters and numbers, or alpha-numeric prefixes.

What does this mean to you?

It will be even more important to ask your patients for their most recent identification (ID) card.

When submitting claims, enter the identification number exactly as it appears on the member’s ID card.

Check your EDI Software to make sure it can accept alpha-numeric prefixes.

Check any internal documents you may have and update any references of “alpha prefix” to “prefix”.

Note: Current three-character, alpha-only prefixes will not be affected by this change. Current prefixes will still be valid once the new alpha-numeric prefixes are issued, unless there is another need to change or remove a prefix currently in use.